Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver depth being put to the test

Entering fall camp, no position group on the Oklahoma Sooners roster was as deep as wide receiver. In just a year and a half time, Emmitt Jones has added and developed incredible competitive depth at one of the game’s most important positions.

But through a couple of weeks of fall camp, that depth is being tested. Jayden Gibson suffered a knee injury, Nic Anderson got dinged up last week, and Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony have been working their way back to game readiness.

Those four guys represented your top five wide receivers from 2023 and are expected to play significant roles in 2024. But the Sooners are working through fall camp without them.

As reports from the first scrimmage of fall camp surfaced, it sounds like the offense had a rough day. The defense is going to be really good, but the first team offense missing most of the two-deep at wide receiver (aside from Deion Burks) is going to make things a little more difficult for Jackson Arnold.

But that’s why building depth and development is so important. With Anderson, Farooq, Anthony, and Gibson out, players like J.J. Hester, Ivan Carreon, Brenen Thompson, Jaquaize Pettaway, Zion Kearney, and Burks had an opportunity to work with the first-team offense.

The Oklahoma Sooners have 17 days before they open the season with Temple on August 29, giving Jones and the training staff plenty of time to get wide receiver ready to go. For the Sooners to have their offense humming early and often in 2024, health is paramount.

Oklahoma has the depth they can rely on, but getting guys like Anderson, Farooq, and Anthony back to 100% will make a huge difference for the Sooners passing attack.

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